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Our Alabama Public Television system was one of the first public television networks in the nation. Today it is one of the best. They continue to produce premiere documentaries, especially surrounding Alabama history.
Under the auspices of Director/Producers Pete Conroy and Seth Johnson, they are set to release “A Legacy of Progress. The Jim Folsom Jr. Story.” The premieres of the documentary on Folsom will be February 27 at the Stone Center at Jacksonville State University, Folsom’s alma mater, and a second on March 6 at the Hoover Library. The Folsom documentary will air statewide on APTV those same nights.
Conroy established Longleaf Studios at Jacksonville State in 2009, as a partnership with APTV. He brought in film genius Seth Johnson in 2018. To date, they have produced eight documentaries that have aired statewide. So far, they have earned five Emmy awards. This Folsom documentary is a jewel and well worth watching.
The film, “A Legacy of Progress. The Jim Folsom Jr. Story,” highlights Jim Folsom being the Father of Automobile manufacturing in our state. Indeed, Governor Jim Folsom Jr. has a very definitive legacy as a Governor due to his being the impetus in bringing Mercedes to Alabama.
Folsom had been Governor for less than a year when he spearheaded the Mercedes coup. He had ascended to Governor from Lt. Governor in 1992, after the removal of Guy Hunt from office. In early 1993, Mercedes announced that they were going to build their first plant outside Germany, and it was going to be in the United States. Rumor had it that the world’s premier automaker was looking at the south for a conservative non-union environment.
Folsom seized on the opportunity and went after Mercedes with a determined focus. He was going to bring Mercedes to Alabama at all costs, and that’s exactly what he did. He put together an incentive package that was extremely generous. Other states followed suit. We would counter.
I was a Folsom floor leader in the House of Representatives and a co-sponsor of the Mercedes incentive package. We had to come back and rewrite it several times to sweeten the pot. We were starting to get strong pushback from the state’s most powerful lobbyist – The King of Goat Hill, Dr. Paul Hubbert. The tremendous incentives we were offering were going to be taken from his Education Trust Fund. Finally, we offered the Germans such a generous package of incentives, they could not turn it down. Folsom had landed the Big Fish.
The Mercedes victory for Alabama was chronicled in every major national business periodical. Fortune magazine lambasted us and said we bought the Mercedes plant. They were right, we did. However, as you look back 30 years later, it was probably the best economic development win in Alabama history. Alabama landing the largest Mercedes plant in the world was the lynchpin and impetus to enable Alabama to bring Honda and Hyundai to our state.
The incentive package we offered these manufacturers has paid dividends in spades for Alabama. Automobile manufacturing has become our largest economic engine. With these major plants, come spinoff subsidiary auto parts manufacturers. We are now the second largest automobile manufacturing state in America and poised to soon surpass Michigan as number one.
Representative Chris Pringle, the Speaker Pro Tem of the House of Representatives and longtime Mobile Representative, recently told me that the incentive package we offered to Mercedes in 1993, was used and was the reason Airbus came to Mobile. Airbus is now Mobile’s future economic allure and king.
We may have been laughed at by Fortune magazine, but we have had the last laugh. We are laughing all the way to the bank.
Jim Folsom, Jr. was born to be Governor. He was the first-born child of Legendary Governor, “Big Jim” Folsom and First Lady Jamelle. Little Jim was born in a Montgomery hospital in 1949, while Big Jim was Governor, but they brought Little Jim home to Perry Street to the Governor’s Mansion. Therefore, he grew up in the Governor’s Mansion.
Little Jim has movie star good looks as does his brilliant wife, Marsha Guthrie Folsom. Both are from Cullman. Jim Folsom, Jr. was first elected to the Alabama Public Service Commission while in his twenties, undoubtedly helped by having the same name as his father, Big Jim. He had a prolific career. He was elected to the PSC three times and served two terms as Lt. Governor. However, his legacy was built during his two and half years as governor, 1992-1994.
Not every Governor has a legacy. However, Jim Folsom, Jr. definitely has a legacy as the Governor who brought Mercedes to Alabama and built the foundation for Alabama to be the Automobile Manufacturing Capital of America.
See you next week.
